Acer Beats Dell for Q3 PC Market Share, Reports iSuppli

Hewlett-Packard still reigns, but Acer topped Dell to become the No. 2 PC maker in the third quarter. It was a first for an Asian OEM ?ö?ç?? and only one of three milestones during the quarter. Amid soaring numbers, Lenovo placed fourth, followed by Toshiba.

In the global PC market, Taiwan's Acer bested Texas-based Dell
during the third quarter of 2009. It was the first time an Asian OEM
has captured the No. 2 market share position on a quarterly
basis, according to research firm iSuppli.
Acer rose to second from third place, with shipments rising by 31
percent between the second and third quarters, iSuppli reported, while
Dell dropped from second to third position. First place again went to
Hewlett-Packard, which holds 19.9 percent market share, compared to
Acer's now 13.4 percent and Dell's 12.9 percent.

"Acer's rise to the [No. 2] rank in the global PC business reflects not
only its strong performance in the notebook segment, but also the
historic rise of Asia as a primary force in the computer industry,"
wrote Matthew Wilkins, an iSuppli principal analyst, in a Dec. 3.
summary.

iSuppli accredits Acer's success to aggressive pricing, strong
netbook shipments and robust performances in European and U.S. markets.
Lenovo, which is based in China, placed fourth, also with a
strong quarter. Now holding 8.7 percent market share, it saw 17.2
percent growth between the third quarter and a year earlier - the
largest increase during the period by any of the top five OEMs.
"The third-quarter performances of Acer and Lenovo are just the
latest development in the long-term rise of Asian manufacturers in the
global PC market," wrote Wilkins.
Japan-based Toshiba came in fifth place, with a market share of 5
percent and growth of 9.7 percent year-over year.
"These companies have made major strides in the PC market in recent
years, with Acer rising from the sixth rank in 2003 and Lenovo
advancing from [eighth] position during the same year," Wilkins
continued. "The Asian manufacturers are a growing force in the global
PC business due to their aggressive pricing along with their ability to
quickly react and embrace new developments, such as the netbook PC."
Additionally, two other milestones were reached during the third
quarter: PC unit shipments rose on a year-over-year basis for the first
time since the fourth quarter of 2008, and PC shipments increased at
the highest sequential rate since iSuppli began tracking the market in
2003, the firm reports.

Worldwide PC shipments during the third quarter totaled 79.9 million
units - a 19 percent jump from the second quarter - thanks to
mobile PCs, iSuppli reported.

Michelle Maisto has been covering the enterprise mobility space for a decade, beginning with Knowledge Management, Field Force Automation and eCRM, and most recently as the editor-in-chief of Mobile Enterprise magazine. She earned an MFA in nonfiction writing from Columbia University, and in her spare time obsesses about food. Her first book, The Gastronomy of Marriage, if forthcoming from Random House in September 2009.